Page 44 of I Love to Hate You
“He has a new book set to come out in six months,” Denver continues. “It’s called,A Good Girl’s Guide to Dominance. Your job is to review Nasir’s back list to better understand him and his core audience and think of a pitch on how to market his upcoming release. Use whatever forms of media you think will make the pitch better and be prepared to present at the end of the day. Any questions?”
Kendrick and I look at each other, excitement in our eyes as we nod to each other, then look to Denver.
“Good,” he says with an affirming head nod of his own. “Get to work. Good luck, you two. Don’t forget, you're a team.”
Kendrick and I exchange glances before pushing away from the table and walking toward the back. As we reach each other and Kendrick looks at me, I get a strong sense that this is either going to be a grand slam, or an embarrassing strike out.
Twenty-Nine
~ MAYA~
My heart flutters like insect wings when we reach the back of the room next to the other groups. Each of them is focused on their task, busily typing away or jotting down details about the potential client, completely unaware that Kendrick and I are next to them. We stare at each other with a feeling that oscillates between annoyance and carnality, unsure of the first move to make. When he looks at me, I have an urge to stare back, but I force myself to roll my eyes and look away. We’re here to get work done, so anything other than focusing on the task at hand can’t be allowed.
“Well, I guess we better get started,” I say, looking down at the computer’s dark screen and seeing our reflection in the black mirror.
“Yeah, I guess so. Do you know anything about the author?” Kendrick asks. He pulls out a chair for himself and then surprises me by sliding mine out as well, gesturing to it with his hand.
I sit down and place a black notebook in my lap before turning on the computer and waiting for it to boot up. “Yes, I’ve read two of his books. One calledThe Patient, and one calledRight of the Slash. They’re both phenomenal.”
Kendrick takes his seat directly next to me and crosses his arms over his chest. “Okay, well that’s good. What are they about?”
“They’re BDSM romances,” I answer, before finding immediate amusement in Kendrick’s discomfort.
He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “So, he writes porn,” he states with a frown.
“It’s not porn. It’s BDSM romance, like I said. Why do you look so offended by it?”
“I’m not offended,” he replies, shrugging. “It’s just uncomfortable, man. I love sex more than anybody, and I even love porn, but there’s just something about reading it.”
My scowl is immediate. “Wow, Kendrick, I didn’t take you for a misogynist.”
“What? I’mnot,” he barks, sitting up straight and pointing to his chest to make sure I know he’s talking about himself.
“Oh? Then explain to me why it’s okay for a man tolove porn, as you just said, but it’s suddenly sickening to read about sex in a book.”
“I didn’t say it was sickening.”
“You implied it. Plus, men always do that shit. There’s this stigma around erotic literature—which isn’t even what this is, because Nasir’s books have fantastic plots to go along with the sex—but women have to hide book covers in public to avoid being made fun of, even though the covers aren’t littered with swinging dicks.”
At the mention of swinging dicks, the groups on either side of us slowly turn their heads in our direction, but we ignore them.
“Oh, my god, it’s not even that deep,” Kendrick says, trying to sway me. “It’s just … I don’t know what it is, okay? BDSM romance? It just seems like it wouldn’t be for men.”
“And there it is, ladies and gentlemen—the reason why most men don’t know how to satisfy a woman. You have a man who’s educated in the field, giving you clear instructions in a printed manual, and you avoid it like the plague. Congratulations, Kendrick, you just failed the hotness test.”
“First of all, I don’t need instructions on how to satisfy a woman, andanywoman I’ve ever been with can attest to that,” he replies, and the look in his eyes makes me stiffen. “Secondly, just because I don’t read doesn’t mean I’m not hot.”
I giggle. “That’s exactly what it means.”
Kendrick rolls his eyes again and chuckles. “Oh, okay. Well, maybe I’ll have to prove myself to you.”
I freeze in place again, but I also notice the slight shift in Samantha’s head. She turns her ear in our direction, trying to hear more, and it sends panic spiking through me.
“Anyway, let’s try to stay on topic here,” I reply, moving my eyes over to the computer that is now ready to go. “The point I was trying to make is that I have read a couple Nasir Booker novels, and they’re fantastic. His audience is mostly women who like a spoonful of spice with their romance, and the few stragglers of men who are open-minded enough to read his writing and use it to their advantage. Nasir has made a career of writing BDSM romance, and it’s clear from the title of this next book that he’s doing it again.”
“A Good Girl’s Guide to Dominance,” Kendrick says, jotting the title down in his own notebook. “Does he usually write from the woman’s point of view?”
“Not typically,” I reply as I type in the author’s name and begin scanning through reviews of each of his books. “As far as I can tell, the fact that he writes from the male POV is what his fans love about him. He gives women insight on what dominant men are thinking. That type of thing makes women rabid.”
